Maui wins regional opener

July 16, 2014

Maui beat Thousand Oaks, Calif., 4-3 in eight innings in the Little League Big League (ages 15-18) West Regional in Bremerton, Wash., on Tuesday.

Maui won its pool-play opener in walkoff fashion when David Rapanot raced home from second base on a misplayed groundball off the bat of Makana Victorine.

It was the first time in Maui manager Steve Leis' four trips to the West Regional that his team had beaten the Southern California representative. Maui was eliminated in the semifinals of the tournament last season with a loss to Southern California.

"It's the first time we have beaten that team and it feels really good," Leis said via phone.

Rapanot finished 3-for-3 at the plate, while Gabe Gunter was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Noah Apolo got the win in relief of Sammy Sutton and Micah Richardson.